Jessie's Jumble
by MeganKoumori
Summary: Woody likes his routine and his crossword puzzle. And then there's Jessie...


Woody sighed and took his seat on the blocks. With the morning meeting out of the way and petty squabbles resolved, he finally had time for the Crossword. He picked up the paper from where he had left it…

And instantly saw the other side of the room. _"JESSIE!"_

The Cowgirl strolled up behind him. "What are ya bellerin' for?"

He turned, thrusting the paper in the air for her to see. _"Why_ did you cut a hole in my paper?"

She put a hand on her chest indignantly. "Why do you assume it was me?"

Seeing her face, Woody's anger cooled and he took a deep breath. "You're right. I'm-I'm sorry." He hung his head, embarrassed. "I shouldn't just arbitrarily assign blame when I don't have any proof it was you."

"Oh it was totally me." Woody's head snapped up. "Ya just shouldn't assume."

Furiously, he began to sputter. _"What…Why…My newspaper!"_

Jessie held up a small paper square. "I wanted the Jumble!"

"But you know I do the Crossword every day!"

She held the paper to her chest as she spoke. "So why can't I have the Jumble and you have the Crossword?"

"The Crossword is on the other side of the Jumble!"

She paused. "Well that's a really stupid layout."

Woody eyed her suspiciously. "Since when you do the Jumble anyway? You don't play word games."

Reaching over she knocked the brim of his hat down over his eyes. "I want to solve the riddle, Sassy Jeans!"

"Riddle?" Woody pulled his hat back up. "What riddle?"

Jessie pointed to the paper. "Every Jumble comes with a riddle to solve! If I unscramble all the words, I can find the answer to today's riddle!"

"Which is…"

" _Why is a raven like a writing desk?"_

Woody raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

Jessie jammed her tiny hands on her hips. "You do the Crossword every day!"

"I think we already established that."

"Don't you ever get tired of it?" she said. "Same old thing every single day?"

"No!" Woody crossed his arms tightly. "I _like_ my routine and I _like_ my Crossword!"

"It won't kill ya to let me have the Jumble!"

"But I want the Crossword!"

"And _I_ want to know why a raven is like a writin' desk!"

As the two glared daggers at each other, Buzz jogged over. "Hey, why are you yell…"

They turned, angry scowls thrown in his direction.

"Uh, never mind." Turning, the Ranger beat a hasty retreat.

Woody turned back to Jessie. "Okay, fine. Let's settle this like grownups. There's got to be some way we can work this out…"

* * *

Woody stared intently at the taped up Crossword puzzle. "Five letters, starts with the letter A…Hey!" The paper was rustling in his hands. Quickly he pulled it up. "Jessie!"

Jessie sat by his feet underneath the paper holding a purple crayon. "What? I figured out the first one!"

"I can't concentrate if you're shaking the paper!"

"You said we could share!"

He grimaced. "How long do you think you're going to be?"

Holding up the crayon, she said, "Until I figure out why a raven's like a writin' desk!"

"Oh for the love of Buddy Ebsen!" Woody burst out. "The answer is _'Poe wrote on both!'_ " Jessie's jaw dropped as she stared at him. "There, are you happy?"

"You…you…" Her bottle green eyes flashed. "YOU BIG SPOILER!"

* * *

Buzz was reading the instruction manual for an electronic game when he heard yelling from the other side of the room. _"YOU BIG JERK!"_

" _OW! OW! NOT THE FACE!"_

Throwing the manual aside, he raced to the scene of the commotion. There he found Jessie holding a rolled piece of newspaper, which she was using to clobber Woody.

Woody was shielding his head with his arms. _"You said you wanted to know!"_

 _"I...WANTED…TO…SOLVE…IT…MY…SELF!"_

" _What in the universe is going on?"_ Buzz hollered.

Both Cowdolls stopped. They looked at each other, then at Buzz. _"Nothin'…"_ They chorused.

Buzz just stared at them, confounded. Then slowly, he walked away, shaking his head.

"Huh. What's his problem?" said Woody.

"Beats me," said Jessie. Then for the heck of it she gave her brother one last whack in the face.


End file.
